Posted - 01/29/2011 : 03:04:22 I dont really see the big deal about being picked last out of 36 nhler's, the way the media's going on about it, makes it seem like the worst thing that's ever happened, i'm sure Kessel is a big enough man to let it slide.

on the other hand, who would you have picked last?

23 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)

Guest4803

Posted - 02/01/2011 : 09:41:41

quote:Originally posted by Guest2712

anything that will stir the pot regarding the Leafs, the Toronto media will write about it. ESPECIALLY the Toronto Sun.i noticed Kessel during the game as much as I noticed Ovechkin. everyone was floating, and trying for the perfect play or highlight reel goal. so leave the poor kid alone already. it was a meaningless game. i betcha half those guys were hungover anyway!

you must of been trying really hard to locate kessel then hahaha, i think i heard his name 3 times during the game at most, but hey his team ended up winning for a change.

Guest2712

Posted - 01/31/2011 : 12:47:14 anything that will stir the pot regarding the Leafs, the Toronto media will write about it. ESPECIALLY the Toronto Sun.i noticed Kessel during the game as much as I noticed Ovechkin. everyone was floating, and trying for the perfect play or highlight reel goal. so leave the poor kid alone already. it was a meaningless game. i betcha half those guys were hungover anyway!

ToXXiK1

Posted - 01/31/2011 : 11:30:14 Short answer would be yes, because of the fishbowl effect in Toronto, the goalies would be judged as any other player in T.O.

"Hockey is a man's game. The team with the most real men wins.” - Brian Burke

Alex116

Posted - 01/31/2011 : 11:17:54 Anyone, media included, who puts ANY weight into that pond hockey game is a freakin' moron! If the TO media really is that bad, then it won't be long till Burke ends up blowing his top on on one or more of these clowns (maybe he already has?).

What a joke. If TO's goalie was there, would they roast him for letting in 3 or 4 in a period??

slozo

Posted - 01/31/2011 : 10:11:43

quote:Originally posted by Beans15

Now this is a question and not a slag against anyone. I have often read/understood that Kessel is a pretty arrogant guy in the NHL circles. Not that every NHL players isn't a little arrogant but apparently Kessel is known to not be well liked.

I wonder, as this was more of a popularity contest than anything else, if that had something to do with. Considering Kane has played with Kessel for Team USA on various occasions and Kesler a few times, one might assume they would have pushed for their buddy, unless Kessel isn't their buddy??

That being said, I agree that he took it like a man and at the end of the day, it means nothing. Him getting picked last of the top 36 players in the NHL still means he was picked ahead of 600+ others, right??

This is one area where Slozo is absolutely right and I a guity of. If Kessel played for anyone but the Leafs I wouldn't have even wasted my time writing this.

FYI - Don't know where you read about Kessel being arrogant, or not well liked, but . . . from everything I have heard ever since being in Toronto, he seems like a very shy, quiet young dude. Never any peep about being bad in the dressing room, conflicts, etc.

From the way some Boston fans have talked about him, you'd think he was trouble - but that has absolutely not been the case here in Toronto if it ever was (I doubt it).

Kessel is so quiet, Kesler and Kane probably never had a real conversation with him. Some guys are like that.

And although Kessel got slagged this morning in the Toronto media big time for getting 0 points, they failed to mention that for a third liner (in the All Star Game), he still got his chances, had 3 shots, and was a +1 I believe. Got robbed by Lundqvist on what I thought was a great chance, and played a solid game.

But that's Toronto . . . you don't score, and you're a bum. You play your heart out and score, you are the second coming of Wayne Gretzky. There is no in between, and one player can easily yo-yo between the two extremes weekly, if not daily.

"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug

Guest6615

Posted - 01/31/2011 : 07:23:22 Just a final thought to this....

3 players (non-goalies obviously) recorded 0 points in the game. One of them, you guessed it.....

So much for two cars. Guess he deserved to go last.

Beans15

Posted - 01/30/2011 : 10:42:23 Now this is a question and not a slag against anyone. I have often read/understood that Kessel is a pretty arrogant guy in the NHL circles. Not that every NHL players isn't a little arrogant but apparently Kessel is known to not be well liked.

I wonder, as this was more of a popularity contest than anything else, if that had something to do with. Considering Kane has played with Kessel for Team USA on various occasions and Kesler a few times, one might assume they would have pushed for their buddy, unless Kessel isn't their buddy??

That being said, I agree that he took it like a man and at the end of the day, it means nothing. Him getting picked last of the top 36 players in the NHL still means he was picked ahead of 600+ others, right??

This is one area where Slozo is absolutely right and I a guity of. If Kessel played for anyone but the Leafs I wouldn't have even wasted my time writing this.

Porkchop73

Posted - 01/30/2011 : 05:40:30 Actually after reading a few things about Kessel this morning I believe his reaction was pretty genuine in the fact that he feels happy and lucky to be participating at the All Star game.Apparently since arriving in TO he and Bozak (who apparently is his best bud in TO) have been spending almost all their available time doing various charitable events in and around TO. The reason being is he feels lucky to be doing what he is doing and happy to have enough skill to play in the NHL. He has no reason to feel like he deserves more. Because he seems so shy and private when you see him in interviews you do not expect to read things like that about him. Especially when you read that he was a pouter and whiner who forced his way out of Boston. (perhaps it was just jilted Boston media making excuses)Maybe we saw the real Kessel at the all star draft.

Alex116

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 16:42:48 I said it in another post that i was impressed with how Kessel handled the situation and that Stastny looked really pissed he was left so late! Obviously as much as i agree "who cares, he's on of the 36 allstars", it is an ego thing for sure and something that he'll no doubt be teased about, and remembered for. The "who cares" attitude is great, but really none of those guys wanted to be last.

If he gets an early goal, i wouldn't be surprised to see the team try to set him up the rest of the way!

BTW, i heard very briefly today, and wasn't surprised, that Burke really was pissed at Kessel going last? Anyone hear anything about this?

quote:Instead of drafting Kessel last, they should have offered him for the top pick in the next two all star games. Then every player could have laughed and said 'just kidding', and cut picture to Burke with steam coming out of both ears.

Now THAT would have been hilarious.

Guest6615

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 14:41:35 Instead of drafting Kessel last, they should have offered him for the top pick in the next two all star games. Then every player could have laughed and said 'just kidding', and cut picture to Burke with steam coming out of both ears.

And people, stop acting like getting a car helped anything at all. That would be like my friend giving me $5. Dudes a millionaire and could'nt care less about some garbage Honda or even the 20k to charity.

TheRC

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 11:33:59 Based on stats he should have been the last guy taken. Respect for taking it well.

The thing with Kessel is that he's the type of player who was made for an all-star game. On the Leafs he doesn't have any elite play-makers with him to feed him pucks, and the lack of any other dangerous scoring threat means he can just be boxed out and muscled off the puck. Put him with all-star players in a game where the defenders are expected to be gentle, and I wouldn't be surprised if Kessel has a great night. Say what you want about him, he's got holes in his overall game, but Phil Kessel is one of the finest shooters in the game.

"If at first you don't succeed, you fail"

The Duke

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 10:56:39 I`m glad he went last, maybe this will send him a message for future games to work a tad harder....gain some respect amongst his peers.

Porkchop73

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 10:11:27 I for one think it was a conspiracy theory. Wilson and Burke talked to both All Star captains and told them to take Kessel last and see if it lights a fire under his a$$. Inspite of the smile and good sportmanship Kessel displayed, egos are huge in athletes and hopefully Mr. Irrevelant will respond with a huge second half.

ryan93

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 09:49:31 Exactly, Kessel didn't go last because he plays with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he went last because he's just not having that good of a season. As i pointed out in another thread, he has the least amount of points out of every forward that was in that all-star draft! I figured it would either be him or Backes that went last. If the game had of been anywhere else but in Carolina, personally i would of taken Jeff Skinner last. I mean he's the youngest all-star in NHL history, and was the last forward replacement.

Just wondering, did anyone else see the "behind the scenes" (or whatever they were calling it) when it showed Sea Weber being selected? It showed Carey Price trying to talk to Tim Thomas, about how Weber has a canon of a shot. Price said 3 or 4 things and Thomas never said anything back, just smiled watching Weber. The face and little head shack that Price did afterwards though, couldn't help but wonder if that was in response to Thomas not answering back, or just him thinking about Weber's shot :)

leigh

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 09:03:08 Kessel took it like a man and was a good sport about it. No doubt his Toronto teammates will tease him but he gained my respect with the way he handled it with a smile. Of course no one wants to go last but I think that the car and the charity money made it a little easier.

I'm predicting Kessel will have the last laugh with the MVP. He should be pretty inspired now.

Guest0750

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 08:32:24 why does toronto fans think they did this to take shots at toronto. it was not a shot at toronto, the world does not revolve around your crappy team, personally i would have like to be picked last in the end, money to charity of your choice plus a car that you could auction off for charity too. stop the pissing and crying over your crappy team, be happy that you got a player in the allstar game.

T-RAV

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 07:25:45 When Kessel got picked last, I thought..."well at least he might get a chance to play with Richards to see how they fit" but then I realized that Richards will be playing with Stamkos and St.Louis. Now I'm even more bitter.

GO Packers!

Leafs81

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 06:53:13 I also thought it was hilarious. Especially when Ovechkin was taking a picture of Phil Kessel sitting alone. hahah...

You know what would be really crazy is for Kessel to win the MVP at sundays game, He would have won two cars in one weekend.

Why did they even give him a Honda??? I guess a niece going to college somewhere will benefit from that.

slozo

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 06:09:25 Now I know why Kessel was picked to go to the All Star game in the first place.

Seriously.

As soon as it was 4 or 5 guys, I knew it was the Leafer getting picked up last, and I knew they would make a big deal of it, and I guess it is really fun for other teams to continue to pile s*** and abuse and humiliation. Looking at some of the stars (Ovechkin in particular) they seemed to relish it, Kessel squirming there with an awkward chipmunk grin of stupidity . . . it was all geared for the humiliation of getting picked last, and what better guy than the lone Leaf player.

sigh. This is why the victories in the future will taste so sweet. Look at this as motivation for Kessel . . . we'll see how he responds in the next 5 or 6 games.

"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug

ryan93

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 05:02:43 If i'm not mistake, Phil Kessel has the least amount of points this season of all the forwards in the all-star game, no? Not surprised to see him go last at all.

A forward had to be picked last, but kind of overlooked is the fact there was also a last defensemen & last goaltender picked. Could be wrong, but i think the defensemen was Erik Karlsson & the goaltender Jonas Hiller.

Beans15

Posted - 01/29/2011 : 04:54:47 As I said in another thread, it made me laugh. But, one would have to assume the team had something to do with it. Same goes for Backes from STL. If there were All Stars from FLA or EDM, there is a good chance those players would have been picked near the end as well.

It's also difficult based on the captains. Both were picking guys they know or their assistant captains knew. Kane might have played with Kessel a bit, but it seems to me at least that most of those picks on Lidstrom's team were actually made by St. Louis.

It really doesn't matter. I am sure Kessel is not to worried about it and other than give meatballs like me something to slag Leaf Fans about, it's irrelevant. Kessel is still one of the top 1% of NHL players, even if he is near the bottom of that 1% based on the picks of his peers.